The Swamp's Secret
by GoldGuardian2418
Summary: There is an evil swamp monster lurking about in the swamp near the mansion and he's...ticklish?


**Another one requested by newbienovelistRD. Here you go, amigo! Enjoy! Ben 10 and all its characters belong to Cartoon Network and Man of Action. I own nothing!**

**The Swamp's Secret**

Rachel had been out hiking and didn't realize that she had gone out farther than she intended when she checked the time and realized that she had been gone five hours instead of only two hours. "Oh, snap!" she exclaimed. "I've got to get back!"

With that, she began running back down the path but then slipped, sliding down a dirt incline for a ways before coming to a quick stop in front of the murky swamp that seemed spookier now with the light almost gone. But she remembered her uncle saying that the swamp was a short cut to the mansion, but was dangerous. "Well," she said to herself. "I'll have to take that chance."

Grimacing as she stepped into the smelly, black water, she slowly moved forward, her eyes adjusting as the light faded into black. She was hoping that she wouldn't see any alligators or swamp snakes, even though the swamp was further inland that most, you never knew what would find its way up here.

The smell of methane then triggered a memory of the old folks telling scary stories of the swamp, saying a tall, evil creature lived there and would scare away intruders, but had also captured some and they were never heard from again. Rachel had gone and checked and had found out that the ones who had supposedly been captured hadn't been, but had all died of natural causes. Seeing the facts, she had scoffed that the stories were only made up to frighten everyone for fun.

Now, she found herself wondering if there was indeed some creature that lived here, then she shook her head rapidly. "Nonsense," she said to herself. "Those were just stories."

Suddenly, she felt something wrap around her ankles and give a quick jerk, making her lose her balance and fall back, only to have something else wrap around her wrists. Surprised, she went still for a few moments, but then began to struggle hard, but whatever was holding her had a good grip.

"A trespasser?" asked a raspy, nasally voice. "Been a while since someone has dared to enter my territory."

Rachel looked around, fear filling her as she bleakly realized that maybe the stories of the swamp monster were real. Oh, she should have paid better attention instead of scoffing at it. Now, she was going to pay for it.

Sudden movement caught her attention and she turned to it to see a strange green creature with red and yellow hair looking down at her with narrowed, angry green-rimmed eyes. A scream left her right then as she squirmed even harder to get away from this nightmarish monster.

"You shouldn't even be here," he growled at her.

Rachel made a quick decision to either plead or offer a compromise. Anything to save her life. "Please," she said. "Don't hurt me."

"Why shouldn't I?" he growled again as suddenly he formed a fire ball with his pointer finger and brought it a little closer to get a better view of his captive. Rachel shook even harder now.

"I…I won't say a word to anyone about you," she said quickly. "I mean it."

The monster growled and looked at her more closely. He noted that her eyes were wide with fear and she was still trembling. Good, she was afraid of him, but then tears began to form in her eyes. Seeing this, he wanted to scoff and call her weak, but something stopped him. Her voice had sounded not only desperate, but also truthful about not telling anyone about him. The thought made him pause to ponder on it.

Meanwhile, Rachel was struggling to get free, but then grunted a little in pain as one vine tightened its grip to the point where it was painful. The monster heard her grunt and turned to see her teeth were gritted and she was gasping in pain. He sent a mental command for the vines to loosen, but when they didn't, he sent another command to them.

Rachel suddenly felt her bindings release her and she fell into a soft bed of thick vines, which cushioned her fall. She let out a soft grunt at the impact and sat up slightly, shaking her head to get her senses about her back. The monster stood before her and she could now see that he was mostly green with some black. He looked like a swamp plant. She stood up.

"Fight me," he challenged her. "If you win, I will let you pass unharmed through here. If you lose, you will be my prisoner forever."

Rachel looked at him and would have backed away if the vines weren't behind her. "I don't want to fight you," she said, in a pleading voice.

"You don't have a choice," he said gruffly. "Fight."

Rachel barely dodged his punch in time as she quickly fell back on her karate training and only hoped it could get her out of this mess.

"Hyah!" she cried out, kicking out hard, but her opponent blocked it and lashed out with a kick of his own, making her fall down as he then pinned her, pushing down her shoulders with his hands.

"You lose," he said cockily.

Rachel looked up at him. "It's not over yet," she said and reached up, jabbing her fingers into his side and ribs to get him to let go. He did, but with an unexpected result.

He laughed.

Rachel stopped for a moment. The monster just laughed? It didn't sound evil, it almost sounded like…a reaction to something pleasant. She then remembered where she had jabbed him and had a sudden thought.

Could this big, old, bad swamp monster be ticklish?

Curious, she looked at him. "What is your name?" she asked, curiosity getting the best of her.

He looked surprised. "Swampfire," he answered after a moment.

"Swampfire," she said. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but judging by your reaction to my jabbing your sides, you are ticklish."

"WHAT!?" Swampfire bellowed loudly, actually making Rachel jump in slight alarm. He then looked fearfully at her. "No! No, I'm not…ticklish, as you say."

"Oh?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow at him. "Are you sure?"

"Yes! Yes, I'm sure!" he said.

"Okay, then," she said. "Let's fight."

Swampfire seemed relieved that she dropped the subject. "Alright," he said, but the moment he raised his hands, Rachel charged and he just barely stopped her from ramming into him with his hands braced against her shoulders. Smiling up at him, she suddenly moved her hands to his sides and began tickling him.

Swampfire laughed as he felt the overwhelming tickling sensation run through his body. He moved away quickly but tripped and fell down in his haste and Rachel pounced on him, this time her hands moved up to his underarms. The moment she started tickling him there, he completely went berserk.

"NO!" he cried out. "Please! No! Not under my arms!" he pleaded with her.

Rachel laughed. "Who would've guessed that the big old mean swamp monster is ticklish?" she asked as she sped up the tickling, now getting his neck and stomach as well.

Swampfire laughed his hardest and finally got out a mental command to the vines to grab Rachel, which they tried to do, but she danced away from them as she continued to tickle her captor. "Say you'll let me pass through the swamp and I'll stop," she said to him, digging her hands back under his arms again.

That was all it took for Swampfire to begin gasping for air now. "Alright! Alright!" he said. "I give! I'll let you pass!"

Smiling and deciding that Swampfire had had enough, she stopped, allowing him to catch his breath. "You okay?" she asked him, hoping he was alright.

"Yes," he said. "But…,"

The vines suddenly grabbed Rachel, pinning her arms over her head as she tried to pull away. Swampfire grinned at her. "I'm not through with you yet," he said, holding up his hands and wiggling his fingers at her. Her eyes widened in horror as she began squirming again.

"Payback," said Swampfire as he then tickled her without mercy. Rachel laughed hard and tried to turn away, but he only added more pressure to the tickling, even leaning down a few times and blowing raspberries into her stomach. Rachel squealed and suddenly found the strength to break free of the vines and begin tickling him again. Swampfire laughed and fell back, taking Rachel down with him as she tickled him and he retaliated. Even though she was being tickled, she didn't stop tickling him and neither did he.

They kept tickling each other for a while until Rachel began gasping for air and fell down on Swampfire, her head resting on his chest. He stopped tickling her when he felt her stop and held her to prevent her from rolling off his stomach and chest. The two just lay there for a while before Swampfire spoke.

"I never caught your name," he said, making her smile a bit.

"Rachel," she said to him, snuggling closer as he was warm and the air was starting to get cool.

Swampfire chuckled and stood up, holding Rachel in his arms. "I'll take you home," he said to her. "Where do you live?"

"In the Jocklin Mansion," she said. "Just beyond the swamp."

Swampfire froze for a moment. "You…you're their niece," he said, recalling Charles telling him about his niece named Rachel.

"Mm-hmm," she said with a smile.

Swampfire now felt guilty. "I'm sorry I scared you earlier," he said to her.

"It's okay," she said. "I'm sorry I judged you when I shouldn't have."

"Don't worry about it," he said. "The Jocklins gave me this place to stay in return for helping them one time, but they were my only visitors and then when the townspeople began spreading stories, I became upset."

"And so you began scaring people to keep them away," she finished, to which he nodded. She then placed her arms around his neck and hugged him hard. "You don't have to be alone anymore," she said to him.

Swampfire hugged her back. "Thank you, my friend," he said, holding her close to keep her warm as he took her home, staying with the Jocklins as Rachel became a close friend of his, the two being best friends for life.

**For those that have requested stories, I haven't forgotten you. I have the ideas or stories with me and some I just have to re-type to post. But rest assured, I will post them as soon as I can. Thank you for your patience.**

**GoldGuardian2418**


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